Laker softball team looks to make its move

The Lake Oswego High School Laker softball team is just 4-6 in Three Rivers League play.

But Coach Don Hunt thinks his team has just begun to fight.

'We're just a couple of basehits and a couple of missed fielding plays from being in second all by ourselves,' Hunt said.

But they've got to have a little better luck than they did in a 6-0 loss to Oregon City on Friday.

'I don't know why everyone gets so up to play us,' Hunt said. 'Oregon City's coach said he had never seen them play so good. They were making diving catches, double plays. They played a phenomenal game.'

The Lakers were pretty great themselves in their previous game on Wednesday, April 16. They shut down Milwaukie 5-0 behind the brilliant pitching of Taylor Hemzacek, who hurled a two-hitter with 11 strikeouts while not allowing a single walk.

A team capable of playing that well certainly has a chance to move up in the league standings.

'Our league is really funny this year,' Hunt said. 'Putnam is undefeated, Milwaukie hasn't won a game, and everyone else is in the middle. There's only a game and a half between second place and sixth place.'

Now tied for fourth place, the Lakers may be ready to move up.

Of their six league losses, four have come by only one run.

'We're a very young team,' Hunt said, 'but the girls are finally learning what they need to do to win.'

Certainly, Hunt knows his team can play with Putnam, which has used seven seniors to take the driver's seat in Three Rivers standings.

'They beat us 2-1,' Hunt noted. 'And both of their runs were unearned.'

Now 10-7 overall, the Lakers will get a chance to put a dent in Putnam's lead in a home game on Friday. Action starts with a JV contest at 4:30 p.m.

A brief winning streak could help Lake Oswego leapfrog multiple teams in the Three Rivers League standings.